Defying the Stars
by PanFlute
Summary: Alak Tarr and Christie McCawly's first meeting loosely based on the masquerade scene from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Alak and his friends crash a Human Halloween party. While his friends find other things to entertain themselves, Alak finds himself in the company of a most bewitching young woman.


**A/N:** From the very first look between these two in the Pilot I came up with this idea! I hope everyone likes it! (This piece is completely un-beta'ed...because Im lazy. .)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters or story from original show. Or Romeo and Juliet for that matter. Just the idea and side characters!

* * *

Defiance was quiet, and almost peaceful at night. The entire town was asleep as the single moon stopped in the middle of the sky, shining it's light down to illuminate the dirt roads. Towards the outer edges of the town, the buildings grew taller. Some were even four stories high, all the windows broken in and vines growing in the bricks.

Barely anyone lived in the outer edges of town, it was just inconvenient. But, all the buildings still stood, frozen in a time that barely anyone could remember.

The outer edges of town did have it's uses, at least to the younger generation of Defiance. The adults condemned most of the buildings and ordered their children to stay away, but where would the fun in that be

"Come on, it's just a stupid Human party!" Alak called back to his friends, lagging behind in the street.

"Alak, what if they find out? What if somebody sees us?" Huddled in behind the pack of young boys was one of Alak's closest friends and full time worrier, Benv. The younger boy was shorter, and less pale than his friends and the only one who had refused to dye his hair. "What if they tell our parents? My dad would..."

"What human is going to go running to the Hollows and track down our parents?" Mertio laughed, throwing his hand over the younger boy's shoulder. "Besides, stay with me here: if they tell our parents that we crashed their party, then our parents would tell their parents that they were hanging around drinking stolen beer and...doing whatever else it is that humans don't want their kids to do."

Alak turned towards the rest of the boys, "Exactly! Nothing to worry about." Throwing his hood over his head, Alak continued to lead the group on down the empty back streets of Defiance. "The plan is flawless." He said, his perfectly white teeth glowing in the moonlight under his dark hood. "Thanks to yours truly, of course."

"Shut up! How can you even think that this was your plan!" Mertio shoved Benv out from under his arms, jogging to keep pace with Alak.

"How was it _not_ my idea?" Alak added, shrugging his shoulders in confusion.

"What? Because Benv was the one who said he was bored and then...let me think about this one, I was the one that said 'hey, why don't we go and crash the Human halloween party in the Back Lots'."

"Um..." Alak's hand raised to his chin as he thought, causing Mertio to throw up his hands. "I don't really remember any of that."

"It hasn't even been an hour, you piece of shtako!"

Benv's teeth clenched as the Mertio jumped towards his friend, grabbing him in a headlock. His eyes darted around the empty streets and his hands clenched in his pale hair. "Guyys!" He hissed, trying to keep pace while still managing to keep his eyes out for unwanted visitors. "Guys! Someone's going to hear you! Calm down!"

"Did you just tell me to calm down?" Mertio stopped, Alak's head still locked under his arm. He could feel the trapped boy holding in laughter, "Nobody tells me to calm down!" Mertio belted out, his voice echoing off the tall buildings surrounding the streets. Benv nearly doubled in on himself as a scream of terror and worry caught in his throat. The younger boy's cheeks drained of whatever color they held until he looked like a proper Castithan.

_"Hey! Who's out there!"_

Alak and Mertio had to peel their friend off the dirt road that he had melted into as a loud, deep voice called from the distance.

_"Do you have any idea what time it is? Hey!"_

The two boys tried with all their might to hold in their laughter as they rushed their friend down the street and farther into the night.

"It's going to be fun, Christie! Your brothers are inside. There's nothing to worry about." Julie leaned against the half crumbled brick wall with her arms crossed over her chest.

Christie had never been one for parties, or drinking, or as Julie would say: having fun. It wasn't as if she had a problem with the parties or the drinking, she just didn't like being alone in a crowded room. She knew that as soon as they would get inside, Julie would rush off with the first boy that caught her eye and leave Christie to fend for herself.

* * *

"Come on! You're going to have fun! I promise!" Julie's skin was much darker than Christie's, and smoother too. Sometimes Christie thought that Julie had to have the nicest skin in all of Defiance, at least the nicest skin for a Human. Everything about her friend was nearly perfect. She was the perfect height, the perfect weight, and could pull of barely wearing anything as her costume. Christie wasn't sure how she felt about her extremely dark skinned friend dressing in a skimpier version of a Castian's robes, but Christie knew that if her father had found out about any of it, he would lock them both in an abandoned mining shaft until they were too old to marry.

"I...don't know..." Christie's eyes dropped to her feet.

"You can't go home! Christie, you got all dressed up for this!" Julie had a point, Christie had work on her costume for weeks. Halloween had always been one of her favorite holidays. Her father would always tell her and her brothers stories about before the Voltan's arrived and all the candy and tricks and apples dipped in caramel, it sounded like heaven.

What Christie loved the most was the costumes. Children were really the only people of the town that actually looked forward to dressing up, she would always pretend that she was just dressing up for the kids...but Julie knew better.

The silk fairy wings was the only thing Christie had talked about for weeks leading up to the party. It wasn't everyday that Christie could live out her dream of having wings and flying away, minus the flying.

Taking in a deep breath, Christie looked up. "Fine." She huffed out, dropping her hands to her side.

Julie let out a loud squeal as she threw her arms around her friend. "You won't regret this, Christie! I promise!"

"I hope not..." The girl mumbled, as her friend threw open the large metal door and pushed Christie inside.

* * *

The abandoned warehouse had not been used as far as as the children could remember. Without a hearing soul within four blocks, it was always the perfect place for meetings. Right on the outskirts of the woods, just in case the parties got busted. Not that they ever did. The adults of Defiance were always too busy to worry about the locations of their children every moment of the night, and with such few houses with working alarm systems it was always easy to sneak out after dark.

Humans and Votans alike shared the space, though it was an unspoken rule that Castithans stay away from the building. Out of all the Votan races, the Castithans were the ones that kept to themselves the most. They had their own schools, they own streets and their own parties.

Though if you asked Mertio, Castithan gathers were nothing compared to Human parties. Alak couldn't put his finger on why it was, but he agreed with his loud mouthed friend. The pair had been to their fair share of Human gathers, but always ended up in the streets as soon as Mertio opened his mouth...which was the exact reason why Benv never agreed to tag along.

In the warehouse, the music was blaring. Old lights swung from the ceilings in bright painted colors thanks to the few Indogenes in attendance, and candles scattered across the rest of the rooms.

The floor was littered with empty bottles, and a few puddles of unknown origin. Alak wasn't going to ask what the humans had been up to before they arrived to cause such things.

The young man wasn't exact familiar with the concept of Halloween, but his basic understanding of it was it was the perfect excuse to throw the biggest Human party of the year. The children were all far too into their dancing and drinks to notice a few extras wandering through the crowd. Masks covered the faces of all the children, though it was easy enough to spot which were Votans and which were Humans.

Alak turned back to his group and motioned for them to follow him through the crowd. He couldn't help but laugh at the Human dancing. To him, it just looked like a lot of jumping and head shaking. Everything was so fast paced and desperate. It reminded him of people having seizures and convulsions.

"Are...are you sure no one will recognize us?" Benv asked, following so closely behind Alak that he almost knocked the boy over every time he stopped.

"If you keep your mouth shut!" The taller boy hissed back trying to be heard over the music but not draw any attention to them, pulling down Benv thick hood over his face.

The boys had no trouble blending in that night. The rest of the children were dressed in similarly strange outfits, all with their faces covered with masks. If the three boys wanted to, they could easily disappear into the crowd, steal all the beer they needed and be on their way. Unfortunately for Benv, that was not the plan...even if that's what he had been told.

Alak heard his friend growl. Standing himself up straight, the young man looked around, his eyes alert for oncoming danger. They couldn't have been spotted! Everyone was far too drunk to even notice them!

"Look. At. That." Mertio groaned out, forcing Alak to follow his gaze to a new face walking through the door. The boys could instantly tell that she had meant to be dressed as a Castithan. If it had been any other day they might have even been insulted. But, due to the limited clothing the young woman was wearing in the first place, their minds decided to let it slide.

"Well, I found my entertainment." Mertio called, jumping up from the table. "Excuse me boys." He said, patting his friends on the shoulders before shuffling his way into the crowd.

"Wait! Mer- ...Wait!" Benv called after the older boy, trying to hold onto his coat.

"Benv! Don't follow...Ugh." Alak tried to grab the younger boy before he disappeared into the crowd but it was no use. He was gone.

With a sigh, Alak crossed his arms tightly over his chest. He'd have to sit and wait until Benv got the memo that Mertio had no interest in his company any more, and the younger boy find his way back. The last thing they needed was for Benv to be found by some Humans and by thrown out into the street.

* * *

Christie had actually been surprised with how long it took someone to pick Julie out of the crowd. They had manage to make it all the way into the main room together before she was pulled away by from mystery man in a hood. If Christie hadn't known better she might have actually missed the entire thing.

The shorter girl stood on her toes as she watched the two make their way into another room of the warehouse, weaving their way through the other dancing couples. With a sigh, she lowered herself onto the flat of her feet. This had been the exact reason why she had not wanted to go to the party in the first place. She hated being alone, especially in a room filled with couples happy couples.

For a moment, the thought of finding her brothers crossed her mind, but then she remembered that she did not want to know what they were getting themselves up to in the warehouse. She had heard rumors before, and that was enough to make her want to wash her brain out with soap.

The girl weaved her way through the crowd, trying to peek through people's hoods and around their masks to see if she recognized anyone. It was hopeless. Everyone's hair and fur had been slicked back, their faces covered, sweat pooling around their eyes, and somehow almost every third person had painted their skin white as a Castithan. It was funny, but only after she realized that actual Castithans couldn't possible be at the party. They probably had their own thing happening on the other side of town like usual.

Christie had never been alone with a Castithan before, and she had no desire to anytime soon.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to..."

Alak snapped out of his sulking as he was almost knocked off his perch leaning against the table. A small Human girl had been pushed into his arms by the crowd. He did not mean to catch her, it was only an instinct that his arms wrapped around her waist to keep her from falling.

"Sorry, I..." Her words faltered, as she tried to steady herself onto her feet. "It's so hard to see in here." She paused awkwardly, bringing her hand up to her hair. "Sorry. It was just stupid of me. Im...sorry." She chuckled, turning her eyes up to Alak's.

He had not spoken, because he was too preoccupied by her face. His mouth hung slightly open as he looked down into her almost black eyes staring up at him. Even under her mask he could see the dark circles swimming in a sea of white. The candles flickered on her face, showing off the bright pink tint of her cheeks across the perfect color of her skin. It was so different from the other humans.

"Um..." He heard her whispered, as she gently pushed away from him. He had not realized his hands had remained on her waist after she fell.

"Oh! Sorry, yeah." Alak stumbled on his own words as he tried to play it off as an accident. Maybe she thought he was just drunk? Like every other person at the party.

"It's fine." She managed to say, bringing her hands back to her thick dark brown hair.

Alak couldn't help himself from wanting to reach out and touch her hair, it looked so soft. Or at least that was before he mentally slapped himself across the face for being such a pansy. He screamed inwardly as he tried to command himself to focus. He could practically hear the lovebirds singing in his ears every time he looked at the Human.

"Come on, get it together." He mumbled under his breath, dragging his fingers across his face, stretching out the skin.

"...What?" The girl asked, raising her eyebrow towards the obviously drunk boy.

"Wha-...Nothing! Nothing. So..." Nice save, Alak. Smooth. He rested his hand on the table, and leaned his body against it, trying to get himself to relax before saying something that made him want to kick himself for sounding like such a creep. "Are you alone?"

The dark brown haired girl opened her mouth, slightly hesitant to speak. "No. My friend is here with me. She's just...getting drinks."

Mentally, Alak was wrestling with his inner self. This shouldn't be this hard! At this rate he was going to make Benv look like a complete player! "Oh, that's cool." Voices rang out in his head, come on Alak, focus. You got this. "So...what are you dressed as?"

"I'm a fairy." She answered, moving her hands to the side and spreading her fake wings.

"A what?" Alak asked, standing up taller to get a better look at the wings.

"A fairy...Have you never heard of a fairy?" She asked, looking shocked.

"Pft, no..." He answered, moving forward to poke the wings with his outstretched finger.

"Hey! Watch it!" The girl said, trying to move out of the way of his hands.

"Is it some kind of bird or something?" A smile spread across his face as the wings flapped every time he touched them. "Or a bug?"

"No! It's not-"

"You came to a party dressed as a _bug_? Really?"

"It's not a-"

"No wonder you're alone! Why would you dress up like a bug?"

Alak tried to hold back a smile as the girl's mouth fell open. For a moment, he was worried that she would turn and storm away, but even in the dim light be could see the corners of her mouth turned upwards.

"I'm not alone! I have a friend here!"

"I don't see anybody! What? Did you scare her off?" His smile spread as he continued to poke at her wings.

"No! I didn't scare her!" She answered, swatting her hands away. "Wait! And what about you? I don't see anyone with you! What are you dressed as?"

"Trust me. I have friends."

The girl crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her hip to the side.

"I mean, just look at me. I obviously have friends." The boy said, straightening out the front of his large, black coat.

"That sounds exactly like the kind of thing someone without friends would say."

Alak's mouth opened, and his hand went straight to his chest in pretend shock. The girl was actually keeping up with him. It wasn't everyday that he spoke to a Human, and even more rare was to find one that was actually interesting enough to talk to.

The conversation lulled for a moment, as Alak moved himself to lean against the table once more. His eyes scanned the crowd, wondering if Benv was completely lost or if he had already started crying. Out of the corner of his covered eyes he could see the girl looking out as well, he couldn't quite make out her expression, but something in him knew that he didn't want to see her anything other than happy.

"So, what exactly is this fairy thing?" He asked, poking at her wings again, only to have his hand swatted away.

"A fairy, is a magical creature that lives in meadows and forests. My mother used to tell me all about them when I was younger." She looked up at Alak, and smiled before lifting herself up to sit on the edge of the table. "We used to go into the meadow right outside of town and try to catch them. They live under flowers and mushrooms rings."

Alak didn't say anything. He just watched her speak. The Castithan watched the way the Human's mouth moved as she formed words, and how the edges of her lips curled upwards every time she spoke of her mother. He watched as her eyes drifted into the distance as if she was remembering some fond memory. Alak had never seen anything so beautiful in his life.

"...That..." He started, but not before mentally slapping himself once again. "That sounds like a bug. You just described a bug to me."

"It is not a bug!" The girl shouted over the music, only to be followed by a large sound echoing through the warehouse as the music quickly shut off. Everyone froze for a moment, as they looked around. Something had happened, but Alak was not sure what. He just knew that it couldn't be good.

All at once, everyone started to run in different directions. Humans and Votans pushed their way through the crowds as screaming replaced the music. Alak grabbed onto the girl at the waist and pulled her close to him, trying to block her from the crowd.

"Alak! Alak!" He heard Mertio's voice call above the screams as a hand grabbed his shoulder. His nose was covered in blood, and his mask had been pulled off his face. "We got to go!"

"Mertio, what happened?" He asked, hastily looking around as Benv appeared right behind him.

"Dude! We got to go! The parties busted!" He called, pulling Alak away from the table.

"We have to go!" Another voice called, this time a girl's. He felt the girl being tugged out of his arms as he saw the dark skinned girl dressed in the Castithan clothing grab her. "The Law Keeper's here! We have to go before they catch us!"

"Wait!" Alak called, trying to fight against Mertio's grasp.

"Dude! Come on! If our parent find out we're dead!"

Alak pushed himself out of Mertio's strong grip as he pushed his way towards the fairy girl. "Wait!" He called, trying to get her attention. "What's your name?"

She turned around, but still being pulled away by her friend.

"What's your name?" Alak called again over the crowd of screaming teens.

"Christie!" She called back, "Christie McCawly!"

Alak's eyes widened as he recognized the name. Everyone in Defiance knew that name, even the Castithans. He could see her trying to call out to him, but Mertio and Benv's grips were too strong to fight.

Soon the Castithans were on the street, and rushing together back towards the Hallow. "Dude, what happened in there?"

"This is why we should have stayed at home! Nothing good comes out of these Human parties!" Benv shouted frantically as he tried to run full speed through the streets.

Alak wasn't paying attention, his attention was behind him on the old, run down warehouse and the single name that rang through his mind and followed him all the way home.

* * *

**A/N:**

What did everyone think? If enough people like it I was planning on maybe doing an entire series just about their relationship. If anyone has any ideas of requests you can send them to me here or on tumblr at justaliceoflegend!

I would LOVE to hear everyone's thoughts and ways to make this story better!

Also, if anyone has any suggestions for the names of the other characters? Im not sure if anyone noticed but Mertio and Benv's names were just plays on the Romeo and Juliet characters Mercutio and Benvolio. I didn't really know which of Romeo's friends to include, so I just picked the ones that I could make the best names from. If anyone has any other ideas/suggestions just hit me up!

ALSOALSO! Im unsure about the title...if anyone has any other ideas please send them my way!


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